This invention relates to telephonic networks, and more particularly, to telephonic networks having an operator services position system associated with a central office telephonic switch for handling telephonic calls of multiple languages.
The world-wide proliferation of telephonic communication has increased the desirability of making multi-language operator services available to telephone subscribers. Telephonic computer networks have enabled such telephonic communication on a global basis. Both international and domestic telephone calls often require multi-language operator services. Accordingly, central office telephonic switches are often provided with an associated originating operator system to provide operator services to telephone subscribers.
Unfortunately, the multi-language requirements for subscribers associated with a particular telephonic switch do not always correspond to the foreign language resources available at the location of the originating switch. Thus, multi-language operator services are often available at remote operator service systems associated with other central office telephonic switches with the resources of the remote switch available to be used by service subscribers of the originating telephonic switch. Disadvantageously, however, when a call is transferred from an originating telephonic switch to an alternate switch, the alternate switch must be functionally enabled to handle all the features that would apply to the originating call. Such a requirement results in substantial network architecture costs. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide multi-language operator services through alternate telephonic switches without requiring the alternate switch to handle all the functional features associated with the originating call.
Additionally, to provide multiple language services, a long distance carrier is required to purchase multiple systems and provision them individually for the particular languages. This results in the purchase of many different configured systems at a significant cost to provide multi-language systems. Moreover, the language selected for telephone operator services in such known systems is based solely on the called service access telephone number. The language for operator service, disadvantageously, is not an assigned attribute of the telephonic call, and thus, such systems assume that a call is to be serviced in a particular language. The inflexibility of known operator service systems can prove to be an annoyance to the calling party, especially if the call is subsequently transferred to different telephonic switches.
The above problems are solved, and a technical advance is achieved in the art by retaining functionality at the originating telephonic network switch with the handling of calls at alternate telephonic switches being done transparently with respect to the originating subscriber. In accordance with the present invention, an improved operator services position system associated with a computer controlled telephonic network switch assigns a particular language to a received telephonic call and the assigned language is associated with and is an identifiable attribute of the telephonic call. Telephone operator services are enabled to be provided in the assigned language throughout the duration of the call. To facilitate the improved multi-language operator services, the functionality and call handling processing for a telephonic call is maintained at its originating telephonic switch. Additionally, telephone operator services in a particular language may be selectively provided by enabling interflow communication of the call at the originating telephonic switch with a remote telephonic switch having telephone operators versed in the desired language for the call. Maintaining the call and its functionality at the originating switch while still providing operator services in the appropriate language allows multi-language operator services to be decentralized on a network basis.